The 2024-25 basketball season will remain a memorable one for the White River High girls, for several reasons.
First, head coach Chris Gibson’s squad advanced to the state tournament at the Class 3A level, a jump from the smaller 2A ranks where the Hornets had resided since 2010.
Second, White River’s move to the North Puget Sound League 3A produced an undefeated regular season (12-0) and the accompanying league title.
And, along the way was an overall, regular-season mark of 19-2 that included a 16-game winning streak and a No. 3 ranking according to the RPI system used by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. That was followed by three victories in four outings during a district tournament that sent the Hornets to the state tournament.
THEN, TWO AND DONE
Carrying a 22-3 record and a No. 3 seeding into the Class 3A tournament, White River found the going much tougher. Two games in five days produced two losses and brought a sudden end to the Hornet season.
First came a regional round, 59-38 loss to Seattle’s Lakeside School. The March 1 game, played at Auburn High, saw White River score just nine points in the first quarter and fall into a hole that could not be escaped.
That defeat in the round of 16 teams sent the Hornets to the Tacoma Dome and an opening-day, loser-out contest against the Garfield Bulldogs. The two squads kept things exciting from start to finish but, after 32 minutes, White River was done for the season.
Garfield entered the tourney as the No. 19 seed but was anything but a lower-level opponent. The Bulldogs had won the past four Class 3A championships, were riding a 19-game winning streak in state tourney play and had been battle tested through competition in the rugged Metro League.
As proof of their worthiness, after beating White River the Bulldogs dominated No. 4 Stanwood to advance to the semifinals. There’s Garfield suffered a two-point loss to Central Valley, the No. 1-seeded team in the tournament and eventual state champion.
White River’s postseason trek included three opponents that went on to collect state tourney hardware. Lakeside played for the 3A title and finished second, North Thurston (which defeated the Hornets in the finals of the district tournament) placed third and Garfield went home with No. 5 honors.
THE FINAL GAME
White River’s last game of the season didn’t start especially well, as Garfield jumped on top 10-2. The Hornets responded well and, when the buzzer ended the first quarter, the scoreboard showed a 13-13 tie.
The third period saw White River take a brief, 29-28 lead when Maggee Schmitz buried a pair of free throws. Things stayed tight the rest of the way and the Hornets trailed by just a single point, 48-47, with 56 seconds remaining on the game clock.
The Hornets couldn’t take advantage of Garfield miscues down the stretch. The Bulldogs twice went to the free-throw line, twice missed a pair of foul shots and twice came up offensive rebounds that kept the Hornets off the scoreboard.
Throughout the game the Bulldogs kept White River off balance by coming up with 10 steals and forcing 17 Hornet turnovers. Garfield scored 17 points off those turnovers while White River managed five points off 11 Bulldog turnovers.
In the final game of her noteworthy Hornet career, Vivian Kingston posted a double-double with a dozen points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Schmitz, a sophomore, had game-high totals with 23 points and five assists.
White River: 13-8-13-13 – 47
Garfield: 13-13-11-14 – 51
White River scoring: Maggee Schmitz 23, Vivian Kingston 12, Dakota Sprouse 6, Malia Froemke 4, Gracie Banks 2.
Photo by Kevin Hanson hite River High senior Dakota Sprouse (#32) looks for an open lane as she drives toward the hoop during the Hornets’ state tournament game in the Tacoma Dome.
